Lock for elevator doors



y 1939- H. H VANDERZEE 2,157,930

LOOK FOR ELEVATOR DOORS Filed Jan. 28, 1958 1 INVENTOR Harry/7'.Vanderzee.

AIKXVVITNESSE'SZ W -ATTO EY Patented May 9, 1939 2,157,930

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIE LOOK FOR ELEVATOR DOORS Harry H. Vanderzee,Michigan City, Ind., assignor to Westinghouse Electric Elevator Company,Jersey City, N. J a corporation of Illinois Application January 28,1938, Serial No. 187,503

2 Claims. (01. 18731) My invention relates to elevator door locks tionor hook 25 disposed to be secured in the lock and more particularly todoor locks disposed to by a locking latch 26 when the door is in itsclosed be operated by cam devices on the elevator cars. position and thelocking mechanism is actuated One object of my invention is to providean to lock the door.

elevator door lock which shall have a small num- The latch 26constitutes a projecting portion of ber of parts, which shall be simpleand inexpena lock spindle 2'! mounted upon and fixed to a sive inconstruction and which may be easily inhorizontal shaft 28 rotatablymounted in a pair Stalled, operated and maintained in operation. ofbearings 29 and 30 in opposite sides of the Another object is to providea lock which shall casing ID. A machine screw 3| passes through safelyinterlock the control circuits of the car to the spindle 2'! and theshaft 38 to cause the prevent movement of the car whenever the lockspindle and the locking latch thereon to rotate fails to operate or thedoor is not closed and with the shaft when it is operated to lock orunlocked. lock the door.

A further object is to provide a door lock which An operating arm 33 ismounted upon the shaft will not require the use of springs forcontrolling 28 by means of a bolt 34 and has upon its outer itoperation, end a roller 35 disposed to be engaged and oper- For a betterunderstanding of the invention ated by a cam 36 mounted upon theelevator car reference may be had to the accompanying draw- (not shown)when the car is to make a stop at ing, in which: I the door at which thelock is located. Inasmuch Figure 1 is a view in front elevation of adoor as cam operated arms of this nature are old and 20 lock embodyingmy invention, the front cover Well known in the art and any suitable camand being removed to expose the inner parts of the arm will besatisfactory, no further detailed delock, scription thereof will begiven. However, it will Fig. 2 is a view in side elevation of the lockbe obvious that when a car comes into the floor shown in Fig. 1 with thebody of the lock shown and its locking cam is projected to engage the 25in cross-section along the line IIII of Fig. 1, roller 35, the shaft 28will be rotated by the in- Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the lock shownin Ward movement of the arm 33 to move the lock- Fig. l as installed ona side opening corridor ing latch 26 downwardly and thus free the hookdoor for an elevator, and 25 to permit it to be withdrawn from the lockFig. 4 is a slightly enlarged view in side elevawhen the door I8 isopened. tion of the locking hook shown in Fig. 2, with The spindle 21 isprovided with a projecting part of the insulation thereon broken away. mer 31 disp to engage a l 38 mounted Referring more particularly to thedrawing, I on the interior of the casing Ill to limit the haveillustrated a door lock 9 as having a hollow upward movement of thelatch 26 and the out- .5 rectangular box or casing I!) provided with award movement of the arm 33, as desired. It will cover II which may besecured to the front of be observed that the distribution of the weightthe box by a plurality of machine screws H2. The of the arm 33 and theweight of the latch 26 is casing is provided with an upper lug l3 and asuch that the latch will be retained in its locklower lug [3a havingholes M by means of which ing position by the weight of the arm unlessthe 40 it may be secured to a door frame [5 by means of arm is forceablyraised and hence no springs are 40 suitable bolts IS. The lock 9 isshown (Fig. 3) necessary to hold the latch in its locking position asmounted on the door frame l5 in position to when it is not beingoperated to move to its serve a side opening door 18 (only a smallportion unlocked position. of which is shown in section). V The limitingextension 31 is also extended hor- The door is provided with a lockingbracket 20 izontally toward the left-hand side of the casing 45 which issecured to the side of the door by suit- (see Fig. 1) so that a key (notshown) may be inable screws 2|. On the outer end of the bracket sertedthrough a key-hole 40 in the lower rear is mounted a hook member 22disposed in posiportion ofthe casing Ill and the face of the door tionto pass through an aperture 23 in the door jamb. If a key is pushedthrough the aperture jam and enter the lock 9 when the door is closed.40 into engagement with the extension 3?, it will 50 The hook 22 may bean integral part of the cause the latch 26 to move downwardly out ofbracket or it may be constructed of any suitable its locking positionwithout the necessity of 0pmetal and be welded to the bracket as at 24by crating the arm 33. This is to permit the eleany suitable weldingmeans. The hook member vator attendant or the repairmen to open the isprovided with a downwardly extending projecdoor when necessary. Anescutcheon plate 4! is mounted on the door jamb to protect and decoratethe aperture 40.

In order to prevent operation of the car while the door is open or whileit is closed but unlocked, I have provided a pair of interlockingswitches 44 and 45 which may be so connected in the control system ofthe car that the car cannot be operated as long as either one of theseswitches is open.

The switch 44 comprises a pair of contact members 46 and 41 disposed tobe connected by a contact plate 48 when the door is closed. The contactplate 48 is mounted upon an insulating block 49 secured to an insulatingsleeve 50 mounted upon the hook member 25. The insulating member 56 maybe readily constructed by taking a block of suitable fibrous materialimpregnated with a phenolic condensation product, such as is sold underthe trade-mark Micarta, and sawing a slot in its underside so that itmay be placed astraddle the curved upper portion of the hook member 22.A suitable screw 5| is provided for holding the insulator 50 on the hookmember and a suitable screw 52 is provided for holding the plate 48 andblock 49 on the end portion of the insulator 58. The contact members 46and 41 are mounted respectively upon a pair of spring contact arms 53and 54 disposed in suitable slots 55 in an insulating block 56 which issecured by a pair of screws 51 upon the face of a supporting lug 58extending inwardly from the rear wall of the casing Ill. The contactarms 53 and 54 are maintained in position by binding posts 70 and 1|. Bythis construction it will be seen that when the door I8 is in its closedposition, the hook member 22 presses the contact plate 48 against thecontact members 46 and 41 and thereby completes a circuit through thecontact arms 53 and 54. Likewise, when the door is opened, the contactplate 48 is withdrawn from the contact members 46 and 41, therebyopening the circuit through the contact arms 53 and 54.

The switch 45 is disposed to be operated by the locking arm 26 andcomprises a contact plate 62 and a pair of cooperating contact members63 and 64. The contact plate 62 is mounted upon an insulating block 62adisposed upon the upper end of a switch arm 65. A screw 66 is providedfor holding the plate and block in position on the arm. The arm ismounted at its lower end on a projecting portion 13 of the spindle by ascrew 61 and by the machine bolt 3| which passes through the arm as wellas through the shaft 28. The contact members 63 and 64 of the switch aremounted upon a pair of spring cont-act arms 63a and 64a which aredisposed in suitable slots 55 in the insulating block 56 and secured inposition by binding posts 68 and 69.

By this construction it will be seen that when the car comes to a stopat the floor and moves its cam 36 against the roller 35, the arm 33rotates the shaft 28 to release the locking latch 26 from its lockingposition. The rotation of the shaft moves the arm 65 (Fig. 2) in aclockwise direction which removes the plate 62 from its engagement withthe contact members 63 and 64, thereby opening the switch 45 when thedoor is unlocked. It will also be apparent that when the car cam isremoved from the roller, the weight of the roller and the operating armcauses them to rotate the shaft in a counter-clockwise direction (Fig.2), thereby moving the latch into its locking position and at the sametime closing the switch 45.

It will be observed that the insulating block 56 is provided with ratherdeep slots in which the contact arms are mounted and is itself mountedon the free end of the extension 58 in the lock casing so as to affordlong creepage paths between the live contact arms when the switches areclosed, but, in order to further provide against short circuits in thelook, I have placed upon each side wall an insulating sheet 8| and uponthe inside of the cover ll, an insulating sheet 82. The sheets aresecured to the interior of the casing walls and the cover by means ofsuitable rivets 83. By reason of the insulating sheets and theinsulating block, the switch parts are so completely separated from eachother and from the walls of the casing that there will be no danger ofshort circuits in the look at any time.

If desired, the contact arms of each switch may be connected todifferent portions of the control circuit (not shown) by connecting theconductors 60 and 68a to the binding posts 68 and '69 and the conductors60b and 680 to the binding posts 16 and H, so that one switch willcontrol one section or element in the control circuit and the otherswitch will control another section or element in the control circuit.

However, if desired, the switches may be connected in series in thecontrol circuit by eliminating the conductors 60 and 680 and connectingthe binding posts '68 and H by a bridging plate 15 as shown in dottedlines.

By reason of the foregoing operation of the switch 44 by the hook on thedoor and the operation of the switch 45 by the locking latch, it will beapparent that one of the switches will be open whenever the door is openor the lock is released, that both of the switches will be open when thelock is released and the door is opened, and that consequently the carcannot be operated unless the door is both closed and locked in closedposition.

In some elevator installations it may be inconvenient to use the lockshaft, arm and roller mounted and supported by the lock as hasheretofore been the usual custom, because it may be desirable to have amuch longer shaft 28 than is feasible with mounting it only in thebearings in the lock. Where it is desired to have the operating arm 33disposed some distance from the look, I have provided an extension shaft28a having its one end connected to the outer end of the shaft 28 bymeans of an extension coupling 16, and having its end rotatablysupported in a bearing 11 in the outer end of a supporting bracketmember 78. The bracket 18 may be mounted upon the hatchway wall 19 inany suitable manner as by a plurality of bolts 88. With thisconstruction the arm 33 may be mounted upon the extension shaft 28ainstead of upon the shaft 28 and, when it is rotated by the action ofthe car stopping at the floor, the fixed extension coupling 16 willcause the shaft 28 to rotate with the shaft 28a and thereby move thelocking latch 26 to its unlocked position. It will be readily understoodthat the bracket 18 will support the outer end of the extension shaft28a and that that shaft will in turn support the outer end of the shaft28 by means of the coupling 26 so that the shaft will be supported in asafe working position and the operating arm 33 may be located wheredesired. Hence it will be apparent that the lock may be mounted inalmost any desired position.

Although I have illustrated and described only one specific embodimentof my invention, it is to be understood that modifications thereof andchanges therein may be made without departing form the spirit and scopeof the invention.

I claim as my invention:

1. A lock for an elevator door comprising a casing, a hook memberimmovably fixed on the door in position to be moved into the casing bythe closing of the door, a locking latch for locking the hook in thecasing, a spindle for supporting and operating the latch, a horizontalshaft rotatably mounted in the casing for operating the spindle, an armattached to the shaft, means for raising the arm to operate the shaftinto unlocking position, an insulating block mounted above the latch andthe hook in the casing, two pairs of spring arm contacts mounted in theblock with their lower ends depending near the hook and the latch, abridging plate mounted on the nose of the hook member in position toengage and electrically connect one pair of the spring arm contacts whenthe hook member is in its door closed position, a second bridging plate,and means for mounting the second bridging plate on the spindle to causeit to engage and electrically connect the second pair of spring armcontacts when the spindle is operated to move the latch into its lockingposition.

2. A lock for an elevator door comprising a casing, a hook memberimmovably fixed on the door in position to be moved into the casing bythe closing of the door, a locking latch for looking the hook in thecasing, a spindle for supporting and operating the latch, a horizontalshaft rotatably mounted in the casing for operating the spindle, an armattached to the shaft, means for raising the arm to operate the shaftinto unlocking position, an insulating block mounted above the latch andthe hook in the casing, two pairs of spring arm contacts mounted in theblock with their lower ends depending near the hook and the latch, abridging plate mounted on the nose of the hook member in position toengage and electrically connect one pair of the spring arm contacts whenthe hook member is in its door closed position, a second bridging plate,and means for mounting the second bridging plate on the spindle to causeit to engage and electrically connect the second pair of spring armcontacts when the spindle is operated to move the latch into its lockingposition, said arm having sufficient weight to over-balance the spindle,thus causing it to move the latch into locking position when the meansfor raising the arm is removed therefrom.

HARRY H. VAN'DERZEE.

